how to raise floor 18" above dry cement floor

growlie

Hello,
I am very new here so I hope you will have patience and will be able to point me to previous posts for my question. I have no one to help so this old lady is doing the work myself.
I have have a ground floor condo (above the indoor parking lot) that now has a raw cement floor.
I will be laying laminate on the cement (on appropriate under pad) but wish to raise the deck entry area and 10 ft. into the apt approx. 18" for a dining area and have the steps into the living room at the end of the 10".
I cannot find any info on how to do this.
The condo is 7yr. old and dry.
Thank you muchly!!!

woodworkbykirk

so its for a 10' x 10' section? measure up 18" off the slab on the wall where this section will be,, remove the drywall to expose the framing.. using a hand level or laser level continue the mark all the way along to where the raised section will end... attach a ledger to the studs via 3 1/2" spikes or 3 " screws.. ledger should be no less than 2x8.. now comes the tricky part.. you have to stick frame a knee wall which the open end of the floor can rest on.. allowing for any irregularities in the slab. this means stud lengths will vary.. look up; sticking framing via youtube or google... once the knee wall is up.. start filling in joists.. sheath it with 3/4" t & g plywood or advantech .. build steps to get up the 18 "... and put down laminate on the raised floor

joecaption

What's the floor to ceiling heigth now?
I hope that's one big condo. That's one big platfom and with the steps it's going to take up a lot of space and be a fall hazard unless you install steps all the way around or a railing.
Is there any doorways where this platform is going?
How is it going to effect window and outlet heights.

growlie

Thank you very much for your feedback Kirk. I had some idea of the process, but would never have thought to expose the studs by removing the drywall... dahhhhh. The condo next door has had this done and it looks great, though you are right Joe, without the one wall mirrored and the completely windowed (and glass sliding doors) at the end of the platform the raised floor would be disastrous. Now to figure out how to get access to that 'crawl space' as I am moving from 3,000 square ft. + full basement and garage to 1,000 sq. ft. no basement, garage or storage.